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Still going strong

The generation that had it all still has it all heading into
their 60s. Previous generations may have seen the sixth decade as a
signal for winding down, but Boomers aren't ready to hand in their
employee passes just yet. And employers -- faced with labour
shortages -- are only too happy to accommodate them.

By National PostSeptember 30, 2006

The generation that had it all still has it all heading into their 60s. Previous generations may have seen the sixth decade as a signal for winding down, but Boomers aren't ready to hand in their employee passes just yet. And employers -- faced with labour shortages -- are only too happy to accommodate them.

Even at the top, we're seeing individuals who decide that work is better than retirement. Some, like Jean Coutu, 79, CEO of the Jean Coutu Group, the Montreal-based drugstore chain, bow out so their offspring can take over, only to snatch back the reins of power when the corporation founders. Others, like Jim Pattison, 77, head of the private Vancouver-based conglomerate, the Jim Pattison Group, and Jim Palmer, 78, chairman of Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer, never even consider stepping aside.

JIM PALMER, 78, chairman, Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer

Instead of retiring at age 65, Jim Palmer, chairman of Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer, the Calgary-based law firm, added chair of the board of communications firm Telus Corp. to his list of jobs. "I wasn't interested in retiring then and I'm not interested now. There's too much interesting work to do," says the dapper lawyer, now 78, who, in addition to his legal work, continues to be a board member of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Rally Energy Corp. and Magellan Aerospace Corp.

Fresh out of Dalhousie law school, the Prince Edward Islander washed up in Calgary on a whim more than a half-century ago. There were only eight articling students in the city of 120,000 then, and the group met weekly for lunch at an old hotel on 7th Avenue, long since demolished to make way for the city's shiny new office towers.

When Mr. Palmer joined Burnet & Duckworth in 1955, Calgary's economy was humming on the proceeds of Alberta's first major oil discoveries. "It's still energy that drives the economy in the West," he observes from his downtown office. That's a fact Mr. Palmer, a life-long Liberal, would like to see recognized in Ottawa. His advice to then-prime minister Paul Martin in the last election? Recognize the economic importance of Calgary by setting up a federal government office with a representative from the Privy Council, representation from the Prime Minister's Office, and make sure the PM spends a set amount of time in that office each year. "Oh, he listened to what I had to say, but he didn't necessarily take my advice."

Mr. Palmer isn't discouraged. Despite putting in full days at the office dealing with clients, largely on estate planning and tax law issues, he still finds time to raise money for Liberal leadership frontrunner Michael Ignatieff. "I've given up working nights and weekends," says the avid hiker and skier. "You can put down 'Larch' for my favourite run at Lake Louise. It's not. I like another one better, but I can't remember the name." He is married to Barbara Palmer, and they have four daughters.

When people ask if he'll ever retire, he recalls a comment that Heward Stikeman, founder of law firm Stikeman Elliott, told him over dinner four years ago. "Heward [then 84] sat up and he said, 'Jim, I'm excited practising law because in the morning when the phone rings, who knows what it might be.' "

JIM PATTISON, 77, CEO, Jim Pattison Group

At age 77, Jimmy Pattison, the head of one of Canada's largest private companies, finds himself working longer hours than ever. "The businesses have grown so I suppose they're a bit more time-consuming than they used to be," he observes. "I track some long hours."

Indeed, the sole owner, founder and CEO of the multi-billion-dollar Jim Pattison Group, a conglomerate that includes grocery stores, newspaper and magazine distribution companies, car sales, packaging companies and entertainment firms, puts in a gruelling week. "I probably fly twice a week, within Canada and the States."

A good chunk of those flights are to Palm Springs, Calif., where he owns the desert compound that once belonged to Frank and Barbara Sinatra, bought in the mid-1990s for US$4.3-million. "I don't holiday there. I use that as a business base in the United States," Mr. Pattison says of the sprawling series of bungalows where he convenes meetings of his far-flung employees and business associates.

Then there's business-related entertaining two or three evenings a week when he's at home -- on top of a "pretty early start" in his Vancouver office timed to Eastern Time (he's reluctant to talk specifics because his daughter was kidnapped and ransomed in 1990). He's also a director of Canfor Corp. and BCE Inc. His one working rule is that he never works from home.

Ranked 194th on the Forbes list of the world's wealthiest people, Mr. Pattison maintains he's never considered retiring. "Why would I do that? I come to work and I have a good time. I have no reason to change anything that I do." The entrepreneur, whose teenage forays into the business world included selling seeds and magazine subscriptions door-to-door to Vancouver housewives, has a soft, folksy demeanour. "Oh heck, I've just been very fortunate."

But Mr. Pattison has always harnessed fortune with a bridle of hard work. While studying at the University of British Columbia -- he didn't complete his degree -- he worked in a railway dining car and later washed cars at an automobile dealership, flipping used cars he'd refurbished on the side. In 1961 he set up his own GM dealership, the foundation from which he bootstrapped the now sprawling Pattison Group. He is married to his childhood sweetheart, and has three children.

But a steelier side lurks beneath his avuncular bearing. He's known for tough management tactics that have reputedly included firing entire underperforming sales teams. He's not keen to discuss such stories, saying he esteems "strength of character." The quietly religious Mr. Pattison has particular admiration for Winston Churchill -- who also scorned retirement.

STEPHEN JARISLOWSKY, 81, CEO, Jarislowsky Fraser & Co. Ltd.

Stephen Jarislowsky maintains he is retired. "I'm doing what I always wanted to do. Isn't that retirement?" wonders the 81-year- old CEO of Montreal-based investment-management firm Jarislowsky Fraser & Company Ltd.

That said, he continues to steer hiring, remuneration and public relations for the firm. As well as personally handling a roster of long-standing clients, he's deeply involved in running the financial end of the business.

He has, however, handed the day-to-day operations of the company to a president, which means he doesn't attend operations meetings or research meetings any more. "I poke my nose into things, of course. If there is something wrong in a research report, well, I say something. But I try not to do this too much. I try to let people make their own mistakes."

Born in Berlin, the young Mr. Jarislowsky lived in France and the Netherlands before fleeing to the United States during the Second World War. After a turn in the U.S. army, and a stint in counter-intelligence in postwar Japan, he settled in Montreal. With a masters degree from the University of Chicago and an MBA from Harvard Business School under his belt, he set up his investment firm in 1955.

In his youth, he says he arrived at the office at 7:30 a.m. and left between 6 and 7 p.m. Not much has changed, except he now tries to leave between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. He still goes in on weekends, "to get rid of some of my private account work." And he continues to manage his own considerable investments (his estimated net worth is more than $1.5-billion).

Despite his commitments -- which include championing good governance -- he also endeavours to take a week to 10 days of vacation time a month. "I have some very close friends all around the world, and if I'm lucky enough to be invited, I like to stay with them." He also takes fishing trips two or three times a year -- the West Coast for salmon, Ontario's Georgian Bay for bass and pike. He's still a keen walker. "I like anywhere where it's not too steep."

And both Mr. Jarislowsky and his wife, Gail -- they have four children -- are avid collectors of Canadian art. "I've been collecting the work of Canadian artists for the last 40 years. I can't tell you which ones. My wife is afraid of robbers, and if she sees I've been talking to the newspapers about it, well, I'll have a very bad week."